Embodiments of the present invention are directed to capturing data related to the purchase of goods and services, either at a retail “brick-and-mortar” establishment or “on-line” over a network, and data relating to a financial transaction at a bank or ATM machine.
Modern commerce, be it a consumer purchase of goods, a commercial transaction, or a bank transaction, relies heavily on computers. Computerized cash registers record transaction data from both cash and credit transactions. Banks use computer systems to manage deposit and withdrawals to bank accounts. ATM machines provide connectivity between a remote computer and a central bank computer over world-wide networks. Despite the computerization of commerce, however, participants to such transactions almost always receive transaction data in the form of a paper receipt.
Paper receipts provide a written record of a transaction. A typical purchase receipt will indicate the date and time of the transaction, the items purchased, the price of each item, the sales tax paid, the amount tendered, and the change provided. Receipts of this type may also include line item details of the items purchased, such as, by way of example and not as a limitation, a SKU number, a serial number, model number, a store number, a sales person identifier, and other identifying information. Bank transaction receipts typically convey account information such as account number, account balance, a location identifier where the transaction was consummated, and a timestamp indicating when the transaction was completed.
The information on a paper receipt, while useful, cannot be captured into a financial data storage system without manual transcription or scanning. Additionally, the paper receipt is routinely discarded. The information on a receipt may be used by unscrupulous third parities to obtain personal information about a transaction participant and may facilitate identity theft.
What would be useful is system and method for capturing transaction data that would provide a participant in a transaction access to the transaction data in electronic form.